Fortunately, the hanged ghost was clearly an earth-bound spirit. After Fang Zhiyi walked far away, it returned to that tree branch, its resentful gaze fixed tightly on him.
Upon returning to the He mansion, the porter saw Fang Zhiyi and quickly pushed open the side door. Young Master Fang, you are finally back. It is so cold out, you really should wear more clothes.
Fang Zhiyi was about to speak when he turned his head and saw a child crouching in the corner by the door. The child's expression was incredibly twisted. Seeing Fang Zhiyi look over, he also stared dead at him, his livid face full of greed.
Fang Zhiyi somewhat understood the original owner's pain now. Being pestered by these unreasonable things was truly frustrating. You couldn't hit them, you couldn't scold them away, and looking at them too much just gave you the creeps.
By the way, Young Master Fang, Xiaocui was punished by the Miss again. Nanny Wu slapped her several times. Tsk, it hurt just watching it.
Fang Zhiyi turned his head away to avoid looking at the little imp and frowned slightly. Why?
Xiaocui was the maid who had snitched to Old Master He.
The porter did not know about this. In fact, the only people who knew about it were Master He's butler, Xiaocui, and Fang Zhiyi.
Sigh, the Miss was just in a bad mood. She said there was a petty person causing trouble around her, and then said that person was Xiaocui, so... The porter shook his head. In these times, the lives of servants were cheap. A beating was just a beating. At least things were relatively fine in the He family; in another household, she could have been beaten to death and thrown down a well.
Fang Zhiyi nodded and walked straight through the gate.
However, he did not go to pay his respects to Old Master He first like he usually did, but headed straight for He Yuling's courtyard.
When He Yuling saw Fang Zhiyi, her face instantly dropped, and she turned her head away, unwilling to look at him.
Fang Zhiyi did not act like a stranger and blurted out, What? Missing your brother?
These words pierced He Yuling's heart like a needle. She turned around abruptly. What did you say!
Fang Zhiyi waved his hand with the posture of an experienced person. Oh, come on, there are no outsiders here, what are you pretending for? I have been your age before, I understand these things.
He Yuling turned her head away again, her face full of displeasure.
But I think you are way too weak, Fang Zhiyi continued, ignoring her and talking to himself. When I was young, I had a female cousin who made a secret pledge of eternal love to a down-and-out scholar.
He Yuling pricked up her ears. No matter the era, as long as there was gossip to hear, no woman could resist being intrigued.
Her family naturally opposed it and even locked her up. My cousin just cried at home every day, crying until she almost went blind.
He Yuling turned her head slightly, giving Fang Zhiyi a rare, direct look. And then?
Fang Zhiyi stroked his chin and thought for a moment. And then? Well, I was young then and felt sorry for her, so I secretly went to see her, and she begged me to help her deliver a letter.
Did you deliver it?
Of course I did. I personally handed the letter to that scholar. When he saw the contents, he acted like he was crazy, crying one second and laughing the next. He kept me there and wrote a reply for me to bring back.
And then?
And then? Then I just went home.
I thought there was going to be something more, hmph. He Yuling looked disappointed.
But later on, I heard from my aunt that my cousin ran away.
Ran away?
Yes! Isn't that amazing? She eloped with that scholar!
Eloped? He Yuling looked shocked. She had not yet considered this possibility.
The family searched everywhere at the time, but how could they find her? My cousin and the scholar had run all the way to the provincial capital. They even settled down there and had a big, chubby son.
He Yuling's face was full of fascination, but she quickly pressed, What happened after that?
After that, what was done was done, and her family couldn't say much. Seeing my cousin come home holding a child, her family accepted it. They even put up the money to open a school for the scholar in the provincial capital. You could say that lovers finally got married.
He Yuling looked thoughtful. You weren't angry?
Why would I be angry? That was my cousin, not my wife!
No, I mean, about the matter between me and... He Chusheng, you...
Fang Zhiyi waved his hand. Sigh, I should have told you earlier. We had no emotional foundation to begin with. Love is something that should come naturally and take its own course, right?
By now, He Yuling was completely drawn in by Fang Zhiyi's words.
I think that, well, free love is a good thing, absolutely no problem. But your father might be more traditional, so I wanted to tell you that I completely understand and support you. You are a woman of the new era, you should pursue freedom.
He Yuling looked the impoverished young man up and down, and after a moment, she nodded. I didn't expect that even though you are foolish, you are actually quite nice.
Fang Zhiyi stood up at the right moment. I won't bother you anymore, lest people start gossiping if I stay here too long. He took a few steps and added, Oh right, I heard someone say they saw Brother Chusheng in the provincial capital.
I wonder how he is doing... sigh...
Fang Zhiyi left, leaving He Yuling staring eagerly at his back.
The story Fang Zhiyi told lingered in her mind, and the word elope kept repeating.
Those words seemed to have opened a whole new door for He Yuling.
Fang Zhiyi, meanwhile, turned and went to find Old Master He. If nothing else, this old man truly cared about Fang Zhiyi, not even minding the profits or losses of those two shops.
A Buddhist hall? We do have one, but ever since the old madam passed away, no one has cleaned it for a long time. My good nephew, why do you suddenly ask about this? Old Master He was a bit puzzled.
I have been studying scriptures recently, hahaha, and just wanted a place to meditate.
Alright, I will have the butler take you there.
Fang Zhiyi got his wish and entered the Buddhist hall located in the backyard. It was covered in a layer of dust, clearly untouched by anyone for a long time.
The butler said a few words to Fang Zhiyi, then turned and went about his own business.
As soon as the butler left, Fang Zhiyi turned his head, his tone full of impatience. Are you done crying? Cry, cry, cry, it is so annoying!
By a dry well near the backyard wall sat a woman in white with disheveled hair, covering her face and weeping. She was startled by Fang Zhiyi's words, and after a moment, she turned her head to meet his gaze.
That face was exceptionally pale, as if it had been bloated by water, and her two eyeballs had long lost their pupils. At this moment, even Fang Zhiyi grimaced slightly.
This was indeed a bit too intense.
Woooooo... The ghost slowly stood up and then drifted toward Fang Zhiyi.
Little Hei covered his eyes. Boss, why did you provoke her? Even the original owner, who was a fool, knew to pretend not to see them! Are you crazy?
Who could have expected that Fang Zhiyi would suddenly turn around and charge into the Buddhist hall. His sudden movement did not stop the female ghost. She continued to cry and float toward him, until Fang Zhiyi came panting and rushing back out of the hall, clutching a Buddha statue in his arms.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
d intelligence to keep the plot moving, and sometimes even the protagonists are forced into absurdly dumb decisions. Why does the A-list celebrity heroine in urban romance novels ditch the top-tier movie star and become a lovestruck fool for a pockmarked male lead? Why do the leads in historical tragedy novels keep dancing between love and death, only for the blind healer to end up suffering the most? And Gu Wei never expected that after finally landing a villain role to stir up trouble, she’d pick the wrong gender! No choice now—she’ll just have to crush the protagonists as a girl!
